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The Shirts In The Closet

I noticed something today.
This morning.
As I was searching
For laundry to wash.
I do that, you know.
Search for laundry
To wash.

I gather it up
Where I can find it.
It’s not so bad.
It’s mostly in two places.
With a little bit,
Like socks,
That end up scattered
Through the house.

As I was gathering
The laundry up today,
I found myself searching
For one of the shirts
I have to wear to work
In the closet
In our room.

That’s when I saw them.
Shirts.
Long sleeve shirts.
And short sleeve shirts.
Dozens of them.

I stood there,
In the closet.
And I looked through them.
Hell,
I thought to myself.
I can’t remember these.

I have dozens of shirts.
And some of them
Are nearly brand new.

Funny thing about that.
I haven’t worn
Even one of them.
In months,
And months,
And months.

I wore a white one once.
Back in September.
When I applied for my job
At Best Buy.

I wore a black one
For a while.
Waiting for my work shirts
To arrive.

Other than that,
I can’t remember wearing
Any of them
In many months.

Hell,
I didn’t even wear them
For the four months
In 2011
That I worked half-time
At the place I used to work.

I have a lot
Of unused shirts.
Collecting dust.
In my closet.

And I found myself
Staring at them this morning.
Wondering.
If I’ll ever wear
Any of them any more.
Or if they’ll just be there.
In the closet.
Taking up space.
And collecting dust.
Until the end
Of my days
Upon this Earth.

I used to wear shirts.
Every day.
Button up shirts.
That you tuck in.
Five days a week.
To work.
Where I worked.
In the old life I had.

The life that’s dead.
And gone.
And will never return.

I find myself wondering,
Every now and then,
If I should go through them.
And get rid
Of most of them.
Donating them.
To some place.
Like Salvation Army.
Or Good Will.

Hell,
I don’t have any use for them.
Face it.
If I can’t remember
Wearing them.
And so many of them
Have been in the closet
For so long
That you can see the dust
Collecting on them.

I obviously don’t need them.

If I do sort them.
Unloading many of them.
I’ll likely keep
The ones I really like.
The ones I bought
The past two Christmases.

The rest of them
Can likely go away.

I’ll have to see
How I feel about that,
And make a decision.
One day.

But not today.

Today,
I’ll just stare at them a bit.
And remember.
When I needed them.
When I wore them.
And marvel
At the scope of the changes
I’ve been through
In the past 18 months.

So that I don’t need them
Any more.

I have dozens of shirts.
In my closet.
And I can’t remember when
I wore some of them.
If I ever did.

I guess I have more changes
To make yet.
I guess the changes
I’m going through these days
Aren’t finished yet.
And won’t be.
Until I’ve figured out
What to do about
Things like the shirts
That I never wear.